would disagree re: dry food bc i think the advice going around right now is wet food is better bc in the wild cats get most of their water from their food and not straight water. if your friend wants to stick with the dry food route, he should separate the water and food dishes because they tend to prefer them separately.

play with him for 30 mins a day until he is panting and physically cannot play any longer. this will keep him from being restless at night.

some people swear by the furminator for long hair cats i never noticed it making that much of a difference

would disagree re: dry food bc i think the advice going around right now is wet food is better bc in the wild cats get most of their water from their food and not straight water

This is what my vet told me, too. Also, wet or dry, it should be grain free. My vet especially stressed this. When I tell them I give them primarily wet but some dry and always grain free they pull a velvet rope that drops confetti and triggers a round of applause. Not really, but they do seem happy it's grain free.

separate the water and food dishes

Again I agree. The most popular water dish in my home is the one in my bedroom. I have water in the kitchen, too, and it does get used, but the separate one is the key one.

I am a crazy cat mom and I have a running water fountain for them. Zeke loves running water (runs to the bathroom whenever he thinks anyone is going to turn on the shower) and used to even shower with me as a kitten. I've read cats in general prefer running water and because of my experience with Zeke I just knuckled under and went for the fountain. (If I turn off the fountain after a few days Zeke gets really, really aggressive about chasing down running water sources. Also, my parents spoil him (turn on the tap for him in the bathroom) which hasn't improved his insistence.)

I have heard wet is bad for their teeth, potentially?

I had a roommate with a cat who developed hives if she ate non-grain-free food.

To add to OftenBen and WanderingEng, grains often cause digestive and allergy problems. Our dog, for instance, has real bad skin irritations (she would literally chew herself raw) and grains in her food were part of the cause.

My cat doesn't drink enough water, he's young but too little water leads to kidney problems down the line. We feed him a small can of wet in the morning and some dry to snack on during the day. Sometimes I put a few tablespoon of water in the wet to get some liquids in him. He won't drink from a running sink.

A family member fosters cats for the human society. She had a kitten jump in the toilet and drown last year, devastating for a crazy cat lady. Put the toilet seat down especially when they are kittens.